Flora of New Zealand Series

Harakeke, Korari (the scape), N.Z. Flax.

Type locality: Queen Charlotte Sound. Type: ? At BM, G. Forster's drawings and paintings show fan with infl. and scale in feet. At P, a small lf and 3 infl. fragments in Herb. Forster are not associated with fls or frs. Found also in Norfolk Id.

Lvs 1–3 m. × 5–12 cm., stiff and ± erect, at least in lower part; butt heavy and us. brightly coloured. Infl. to 5–(6) m. tall; peduncle c. 2–3 cm. diam., us. erect, dark, terete, glab. Fls 2.5–5 cm. long, predominantly dull red; tips of inner tepals only slightly recurved. Ovary erect; carpels straight. Capsule us. < 10 cm. long, often much less, erect, trigonous, abruptly contracted to tip, not twisted, remaining firm and dark in age. Seeds c. 9–10 × 4–5 mm., ± elliptic, plate-like but ± twisted. 2n = 32.

DIST.: N., S., St., Ch., A.

Abundant, especially in lowland swamps and intermittently flooded land.

FL. 11–12. FT. 1–3.